Children's Books to Inspire Reading and Foster Imagination
Published: 2017
Theme: Content with Life
Best for: 7 to 9
“I remembered a large, fancy poster with a picture of my mother and James, looking happy and famous. How could she leave that behind to live on a farm in the middle of the prairie?” The magic of Patricia MacLachlan comes through again, this time with a young girl wondering how one can give up fame and still be happy!
A children’s book as a holiday gift can change a young person’s life. Watch and listen to this moving testimony about books and libraries by Maya Angelou, called “A Library is a Rainbow in the Clouds” She talks about the dark …
Light Your Way – Children’s Books for the Holiday Read more »
Published: 2016
Theme: Children, Poets, and Dogs
Best for: 7 to 10
“I’m a dog. I should tell you that right away. But I grew up with words. A poet named Sylvan found me at the shelter and took me home. He laid down a red rug for me by the fire…” Prepare to have your heart strings plucked by master storyteller MacLachlan, as a dog and two children comfort each other.
Published: 2014
Theme: Biography Henri Matisse
Best for: 4 to 6
“If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were gray, and you wanted color and light and sun, what might you become?” The images and wonder of Matisse’s imagination come to life in a beautifully crafted children’s book.
Published: 2012
Theme: Boxcar Children prequel
Best for: 7 to 9
“They heard the sound of Papa’s old gray car in the driveway. Jessie and Henry climbed down the ladder and watched Papa walk up to the barn, carrying a cloth sack of nails and some boards for the stalls.” If you have children who are devoted to the Boxcar children series, and want to have a ‘prequel’, MacLachlan’s children’s book is just right.
Published: 2012
Theme: Death of a grandparent
Best for: 6 to 9
“I sleep with Lucy [the dog] in Billy’s bed because I promised. She sleeps next to me, sometimes lifting her head to peer at me as if to say ‘You’re not the one I love. You’re all right. But not the one I love.'” In Kindred Souls, once again MacLachlan addresses the journey of a young child dealing with the death of an elder, offering humor and compassion..
Published: 2011
Theme: Family
Best for: 8 and 9
“So four dogs and a cat named Lula replaced my father…My friend Max thought it was very exciting. Not that my father was gone, but that Mama had brought home four dogs and a cat.” The magic in this children’s book is the degree to which we can really relate to animals when our hearts are young and open, and they with us…
Published: 2006
Theme: Love and Loss of Grandparents
Best for: 6 to 9
“‘He can only speak French in my journal,’, I said. ‘I suppose that’s what writing is for,’ said Grandfather. ‘To change life and make it come out the way you want it to.'” This children’s book addresses something so precious – preparing a child for the death of the grandparent. I cry just writing those words. Yet there is nothing maudlin or sad about this children’s book. It is exquisite.
Published: 1985 – 2006
Theme: Family life on the Plains
Best for: 5 – 8
“Sarah loved the chickens. She clucked back to them and fed them grain. They followed her, shuffling and scratching primly in the dirt. I knew they would not be for eating.” What captured me in each children’s book of this collection was the emphasis on the emotions and feelings of the people. We live through the eyes of each child in turn…
Published: 2006
Theme: New Baby
Best for: 7- 9
“What if Mama is too old to have this baby? What if this terrible baby makes Mama die like Caleb’s mama died when he was born? I closed the journal as if shutting away the words would make them go away.” The very real fears and emotions of the youngest child towards a new baby are presented with care in book 4 of Sarah, Plain and Tall.
Published: 2001
Theme: Reconciliation
Best for: 6 to 8
“They are beautiful, the trees and hills and lakes filled with water. But the prairie is home, the sky so big it takes your breath away, the land like a giant quilt tossed out.” A profound exploration of reconciliation between father and son, and forgiveness.
Published: 2013
Theme: Family Love
Best for: 6 to 9
“We all have our truths, Kidd,” says Henry. “Some are big truths. Most times they’re small truths. But those stories are Maddy’s truths. Your parents have different ones of their own.” This is an exquisite children’s book, written for the ‘early reader’ level. It is heartfelt, honest, and funny, all at once.
Published: 2014
Theme: Family
Best for: 7 to 9
“I write, “Wrapped in the moon.” I can’t write any more. But I know that this won’t be a rhymed poem. That is too slim for what I want to say. That is too slim for the cow.” Reading Fly Away was somewhat like stepping into a child’s dream, an ordinary child, living an ordinary life, with the heart and soul of a poet…